2006 Harley Davidson Softail Standard - Road Test

The Standard's sheetmetal consists of a small front fender, 5-gallon Fat Bob tanks, and a 3.5-quart black oil tank. A widened bobtail rear fender that allows plenty of the 200mm tire to show announces it's all business at the back end of the motorcycle. Ergonomics include a set of medium-rise bars set in curved risers, a thickly padded two-up seat, and a set of forward-mounted foot controls.

As soon as we heard rumors of the new bigger tire, we couldn't wait to get our hands on one. We weren't disappointed. The thought of a Harley shipping with a 200mm rear tire sounded almost too good to be true. As soon as we got the call that the bike was ready for pickup, we were off. With the papers signed, we thumbed the starter and hit the road. The first thing we observed was that the Standard is a bike designed around riders averaging 5 feet, 8 inches tall. Since we were in that general range, all the controls were within easy reach.

A quick squeeze of the clutch revealed a much lighter pull than we had grown accustomed to on a Softail. This reduced effort can be credited to a redesign of both the ball-and-ramp assembly and the diaphragm spring, which sits atop the clutch. We were informed by the factory that the new setup allows for a reduction of 24 percent in the effort needed to disengage the clutch. As we rolled on the throttle and banged through the gears, everything felt smooth due to the counter-balancers, which help keep motor vibrations to a minimum.

We were impressed with the handling characteristics of the new 200mm-so much so that at times it was hard to tell the bike wore such a wide rear tire. Dunlop did a good job with the tire's profile; it has a well-designed crown that allows very smooth transitions as the bike is tossed from side to side. There is no feeling that the bike wants to stand up while in a turn, which often happens on bikes with tires fatter than 200mm. Also adding to the riding experience is a ground-clearance figure of 6 inches, compared to last year's 5.6 inches. In addition, the lean angle on the right side of the bike has been increased by 4 degrees to 35 degrees; the left side remains unchanged at 34 degrees. In the power department, the bike is said to put out 80 lb-ft of torque according to our factory sources. Although we did not put the bike on a dyno, we feel reasonably sure that rear-wheel hp would come in somewhere around 62-65, with a torque number around 72-75 lb-ft. The Delphi Electronic Sequential-Port Fuel Injection (the bike is also available as a carbureted model) worked flawlessly, allowing for both cold and hot starts, with no problems. At varying engine speeds the EFI did what was expected of it, with no pops, hiccups, or stumbles. While the bike is not underpowered, riders used to larger-displacement engines will probably opt for a big-bore kit or other performance modifications.

The bike we tested wore a Red Fire Pearl paint job and had a MSRP of $14,780.Once we added the options (EFI, $225; California, $100; and polished rear wheel, $495), the total came to $15,600.

As we stated before, this bike has tons of potential-or you can keep it stock. The choice is up to you.